iNaturalist is a digital tool to help you identify wildlife around you. Connect with a worldwide community who can help you learn more about nature! By recording and sharing observations, you can create research-quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature.

You can use iNaturalist when you encounter plants or animals that intrigue or inspire you by snapping a photo and sharing it to this worldwide database. Other community members help to review your contributions to verify your ID's or to suggest alternatives. You can set projects on iNaturalist to have participants add wildlife observations, whether they are for a short-term bioblitz or a long-term study of your environmental education campus.

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Citizen and community science is scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by nonprofessional scientists. Citizen and community science is sometimes described as public participation in scientific research, participatory monitoring, or participatory action research. Its outcomes are often advancements in scientific research, as well as an increase in the public's understanding of science. Four common features of citizen and community science practice are: (a) anyone can participate, (b) participants use the same protocols so that data can be combined and is of high quality, (c) data can help real scientists come to real conclusions, and (d) a wide community of scientists and volunteers work together and share data to which the public, as well as scientists, have access. View more resources in the Citizen and Community Science PRO Picks collection >